Fiqh al Jihad Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradhawi

modern scholars of Hadith. He came to the conclusion
that this hadith is categorized as one of the general
hadiths, which target dealing with private issues. He
then quoted the comment of Sheikh Al-Ghazali on this
hadith, who said,
Ibn Taymiyah dealt with this
hadith in his thesis entitled,
A Rule in Fighting Against
the Disbelievers
The main goal of fighting people, then, is not to make them testify that
none has the right to be worshipped but Allah. If the People of the
Book are excluded from the above mentioned hadith, then does the
hadith deal with all polytheists and idolaters? The answer is definitely
"no"! In another authentic hadith, the Magians are included with the
People of the Book, as the hadith states, "Treat them as you treat
the People of the Book" (reported by Malik, Al-Bayhaqi, and others.
It was deemed weak by Sheikh Al-Albani). Hence, the fact is that this
hadith is pertinent to the Arab polytheists who were reluctant to
respect Islam and its followers, seeking to destroy them completely,
and who also failed to respect any concluded treaty or given covenant.
Those people were granted four months to reconsider their situation
and rectify their stance. If they insisted upon obliterating Islam, then it
would be necessary to fight them.
Sheikh Al-Qaradawi also quoted Imam Ibn Taymiyah's opinion on this hadith, where
he said,
Ibn Taymiyah dealt with this hadith in his thesis entitled, A Rule in
Fighting Against the Disbelievers. He adopted another approach in his
understanding and explanation of this hadith, which is entirely
different from what is said by the majority of Muslim scholars. Hence,
we have to state this view on account of its depth, clarity and
significance. Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy upon him) said,
"The meaning of the Prophet's saying "I have been ordered to fight
people until they testify that there is no god but Allah, and I am
the Messenger of Allah. If they did so, then they would save
their lives and property from me except for Islamic laws, and
then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah" is just a
mention of the objective during which fighting against them will be
permissible. Hence, if those people carried out what the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) asked them for, then fighting
against them would be prohibited … Thus, this hadith does not mean
that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was commanded
to fight against all people only for this objective, as this meaning
contradicts the religious texts and the consensus of Muslim scholars.
Yet, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never committed
such an act; rather, he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to
make peace with those who wanted to make peace with him. (Fiqh of
Jihad, vol. 1, pp. 327-337)
Regarding the fifth evidence, which claims that the Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) initiated attacks against the disbelievers, Sheikh Al-Qaradawi refuted
this claim with the words of Ibn Taymiyah and his disciple, Ibn Al-Qayyim. Sheikh Al-
Qaradawi stated,
He who ponders over the Prophet's
biography will find that he never